Sandy Refugees Complain of Prison-like Conditions at FEMA Tent Camps

OCEANPORT — As he lights up a Marlboro and takes a slow drag before exhaling, Brian Sotelo is a man who has finally reached his breaking point.

Anger drips from every word as he peers out at the tops of the white tents rising over the trees in the distance. The depth of despair in his eyes is difficult to fathom.

And he makes it clear he’s was not going down without a fight.

We stood and talked in the cool morning air a short distance up the road after security at the front gate threatened to have our cars removed outside the entrance to what Sotelo’s identification tag calls “Camp Freedom,” even though it more closely resembles a prison camp.

A Seaside Heights resident who was at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River with his wife and three kids a half-hour before the shelter opened as superstorm Sandy approached last week, Sotelo was part of a contingent shifted on Wednesday to this makeshift tent city in the parking lot across Oceanport Avenue from Monmouth Park.

I so agree with many posters below. This man has a phone and a car. He probably stole them both. This story about working hard every day since he left home at 16? That's just a euphemism for dealing drugs. The people in that car weren't his family, those were his prostitutes. Drug kingpins like him have cash, hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars but this guy can't spend for a night in a hotel room?

And most of these people probably voted for Obama. Actually, ALL of them did, EVERY SINGLE ONE. Stuff like this doesn't happen to conservatives ever. NEVER EVER, NOT EVEN ONCE ANYWHERE IN THIS LAND, you know why? Because we're smarter and better than they are. And because of this they deserve neither our assistance nor our sympathy, they ALL DESERVE TO DIE.

Fortunately because of our ideology and inherent righteousness and natural superiority we don't have to deal with such things. Go forth proudly through the human stench of this day with your head held high.

And I am so very proud to stand among ye. Those of ye, that is, that aren't moved to some bogus sympathy and motivation to help victims of natural disaster on our own soil. You guys should have just gone ahead and voted for Obama and you should be dead too.

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Most of those who think so actually don't and most of those who think sew actually rip.

Don't begrudge people simple things like that during a crisis. I'm sure he gets somewhat of a feeling of normalcy during a rough time out of that phone.

Would we have him without any way to document what's going on and contact with the outside world?

Anyway, this guy may wind up being a future Liberty lover. He's getting an education in socialistic/fascist government love as we speak. He'll remember the efficiency and warm feeling about FEMA for a long time to come, hopefully.

when you have all your stuff and you are well. Don't knock the unfortunate. All things that happen to us are not by our own choice. We don't know where he got the phone, perhaps it was given to him. Maybe his family lived far away. Perhaps his neighbors and friends were in the same predicament. He was forced out of his home. Probably all the nearby hotels were occupied and neighbors had already lent their extra rooms to others. We don't know.

There is absolutely no excuse for our government to treat American citizens this way. FEMA has been given money for the express purpose of aiding the unfortunate. Expecting the government to take care of you is crazy, but that is no excuse for the gov to act like this.

Where is the outrage? Instead we sit and call them stupid from our cozy homes? What can we do to help prove that private charity is far superior to socialism? Dr. Paul always insisted on this.

That piece of technology may be the only place he can store and transmit photos, videos, and audios for his personal record and his public free-speech use. When he is told that power to recharge that phone isn't available, consider how many ways he is limited in it's uses.

Even though his monthly contract payments may have him with some service for a while, what are his options when he might not be able to afford that? Then all he will have is a high tech tool with no power to record or access files and no way to transmit them to others, much less talk to loved ones or find work.

Who are this people? Don't they have family, friends or coworkers to rely on times like this? The people on that East Coast shiat hole are very dysfunctional, is a bad situation when someone is so pucked up that it has no family and friends to help them out in times like this and the community don't give a puck about them either, one must be pretty idiot, selfish and rude in order to achieve the accomplishment of being all alone when such a tragedy strikes.

What those people want? A $2000 a night Ritz suite for the next 5 years? Why don't they have a premium home insurance if they choose to live in a dangerous area? Saving account? Maybe was better to save some money instead leasing cars for the last 10 years, huh?

This Sandy storm showed one more time how dysfunctional, selfish, irresponsible and divided America is, is bad when people can't rely for help even from their families.
When you are all alone most likely you where a prick all your life and you deserve what life throws at you.

Welcome the East Coast where people are proud living in a jungle, where helping people mean buying a $2 magnetic ribbon to stick on a $40,000 car.

Especially when you are confronted with a manufactured storm? How fast do you think an insurance company can fix the damage? Which world do you live in? Have you spent $2 to help these people? They are our neighbors, even if we live many miles away.

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